Sun Mote Copse so you found another way

When Towhee came into view, Eljay looked about as startled as she did, as he lifted his head and ears perked forward in her direction. Ah, he breathed, almost as if in pain (which, admittedly, he also was, a little bit, from the swift lifting of his head), and he realised that he couldn't just leave, now. Or, well, he could, but then it would never stop being something weird to hang between them... And while there was a large part of him that wanted to flee, another part of him wanted to make amends.

Towhee, he said, belatedly, as his brain processed things. I didn't know, uh — that it was the Copse you settled at. He didn't remember, honestly, anything of what had been said when Towhee visited the Caldera. Maybe it hadn't even come up. Now he worried about being rude, but it seemed the situation was beyond salvation, anyway.

Being here — or rather, being around Towhee — made Eljay feel like being a little boy again, even though he was older than her. He swallowed and looked up at her when suddenly he noticed that there seemed to be something wrong with her eye. He blinked and said hesitantly, in lack of better phrasing, Is... What happened to your eye? Are you okay?